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Holding tanke
As been discussed some on other forums aluminum holding tanks fail. These photos are of a holding tank coming out that was not showing any signs of leaking yet. However you can see that it would not of been long before there was going to be a serious problem. That is why we are replacing the tanks with a stainless steel tank. There will be no worries about tank failure in the future.
2005 coach
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53 Replies
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Jeff: Its looks like the “bung” that the discharge hose is clamped to corroded in half. I presume that is aluminum too. Is that correct?
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Why not plastic? Less cost, less weight etc.
1999 XLV X-6872, liberty #440 -
On the holding tanks the nipple goes to a short rubber conector(fernco) then that is connected to the copper pipes…
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Good question Andy.
My previous 2 Liberty coaches had stainless steel holding tanks. My current one came with the aluminum tank and I changed it out to stainless steel this past summer. I also dodged a bullet because my tank was in immediate danger of failing.
Full disclosure: My daughter owns my former factory and she had my stainless steel tank made to my specifications. I am not involved in any of this tank replacement issue because I don’t want anyone thinking I have an agenda to sell tanks. I replaced my tank only because I felt uncomfortable with the use of aluminum for a holding tank.
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That picture is worth 1000 words…this was our tank and the decision to replace it was one of my better / luckier ones…some good coaching from Jeff…the incident that tank failure could’ve caused gives me the willies…kinda like the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dike…
Our coach is a 2005 vintage so around 10 years old…
Leslie & Grant Olson
2005 Liberty
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What a great call made on having Jeff taking a look at you’re holding tank. Just confirms doing maintenance and inspections to systems prior to going to the bus and seeing a leak problem.
If there is one single thing I’ve learned from this forum is tips about what can go wrong. It’s never been I’ve told you so but member written “you should be aware.
From what I’ve read every one of them will fail. That statement is not a slam toward Liberty but … it what it is.
I would guess it was a manufacture choice to save weight, cut cost.
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Actually the use of aluminum is not much of a cost saver, if any. Compared to steel and stainless steel aluminum is not difficult to punch and bend, but welding requires greater skills than other metals.
I have no knowledge of plastic so I don’t know if it will save weight or if as it ages it gives issues, or if is difficult to weld. Those would be my concerns for fabricated tanks. A roto-cast tank or molded tank would require some tooling to make, but for production cost would be very inexpensive once the tool cost was amortised.
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Jon: What is the cost of a correctly fabricated stainless tank? When you had your’s fabricated, were you able to increase the capacity? or did you duplicante exactly what was in your coach?
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I duplicated the aluminum tank. No change in capacity. I got it for nothing as in free because I know the company president.
As I said previously, I am not involved in this and Jeff is the one to talk to about cost. I don’t know the cost.
FWIW, my tank replacement was part of a water bay project I had planned because there were things I wanted. In addition to replacing my tank I have added a back up water pump so a failed main Headhunter pump will not affect a trip, plus I added thermostatic controls for the coolant so when the HW is heated while driving it will not exceed the temps provided by the electric HW heater.
In retrospect I was very lucky I changed my tank when I did because it was very close to having a failure.
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I have plastic tanks in my bus. During our trip last week, my plastic freshwater tank appears to have developed a crack and is leaking a gallon or two a day. I will have to pull apart the cabinetry in the bay to see what is really going on, but it is clear that the tank is not leaking from any of the connections, so a crack seems the likely cause. I believe tanks of this type can be welded for repairs. Does anyone have experience with this? any ideas on what could cause a tank to crack? We were driving in cold conditions, but had the bay heaters on and did not experience any problems with the water lines, so I do not think freezing was involved at all. The bottom of the bus looks perfect, so I also don’t think road debris was the culprit.
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Once again pulled a holding tank today that had been repaired at one of the fittings which was where the Mac unit would pick up from. That repair was holding fine, however the rest of the tank was very bad with small pin holes all over including the bottom of the tank. We could on occasion smell just a hint of sewer in the bay and was starting to see a very small amount of moisture on occasion in the bay. This is a 2000 coach….any aluminum holding tank will fail
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this was on the side of the tank
Here you can see a trace down the tank with a small hole in the nipple
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jeff, what is the avg cost of say a 100 gallon tank? not including your labor to remove, refurbish the bay (i saw what you do in there and its like a new install when you are done) and install the tank, but just the tank? i am sure depending on the layout of the bays, the labor varies, so i wont ask you about that.
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I cannot provide costs, but I replaced my tank with a 135 gallon duplicate of the previous one. If all I did was replace the tank it is a one day job. I did a lot of other things and literally gutted my whole bay, water and holding tank side to do a few little projects.
If the tank is not a duplicate then there is a whole lot of extra time involved because unless the fittings are a direct match up there is a substantial amount of work associated with fit up of all piping.
But bear in mind one very important thing. A leak in either the holding tank or fresh water tank can go undetected for a very long period of time in some cases. When the tank is removed that is when the impact of the leak shows up and it can range from just drying the floor a little to a full blown rebuild of the floor to repair water damage. Even if you get a quote be aware nobody can predict if there is a more serious problem.
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jon, that is why i was asking about just the tank… the last time i was up at jeff’s they were doing a complete rebuild including floor and under coating. that looked like an involved job and i am sure determining the extent can only be figured once in there.
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